Out with Sara: Pizza Boy Brewing

Al talks shop while giving us a behind-the-scenes tour of Pizza Boy Brewery

It was only in the last few years that I finally got around to visiting Al’s of Hampden.

The first few visits were drop-ins to pick up pizza and an interesting six-pack en route to visit friends. But as the craft beer trend continues to advance locally and nationally, more people are taking notice to shops such as Al’s and Brass Rail in Campbelltown, as well as the growing number of bars that focus on craft beers.

Al’s of Hampden owner Al Kominski is doing something none of the others are doing: He’s brewing his own beer.

Inspired by his passion for craft beer — all kinds, it seems (Kominski is a beer nerd to the nth degree) — and driven by the antiquated Pennsylvania Liquor Code, which makes it more difficult for Al’s to serve the selection it always has, he decided to start brewing his own beer.

Kominski has been making pizzas for 21 years (he’s only 34), so he has aptly titled his brewery Pizza Boy Brewing Co. He essentially has a miniature version of what you might have seen at Troegs Brewing Co.; the same German-built tanks and equipment are in his pizza shop basement.